Maki Narumiya is from Ice Ribbon and will almost have a full year of experience under her belt by the time her match with Cherry takes place. Meanwhile I predict Cherry will use the match as an opportunity to claim she is younger than everyone from Ice Ribbon, including the teens.

The Special Battle Royal so far features wrestlers from around the Osaka indie wrestling scene. Union is hoping to discover some fresh talent to add to their shows and this match could create some opportunities for the wrestlers involved.

Danshoku Dino is already preparing for new challenges justs days after becoming the new KO-D Openweight Champion. He already had his first defence lined up for 19/2 in Korakuen Hall as his close friend and rival Antonio Honda called for the first title shot. In a rare booking decision, DDT has set up two non-title matches between Dino and Honda in Shin-Kiba and Nagoya before their Korakuen match takes place. Both matches will have stipulations that will be decided by DDT General Manager Tsurumi Amon at the shows. The matches will feel very special to Dino, Honda and Amon due to their time spent together in the now defunct MUSCLE sub-brand.

Meanwhile, “NON-FIX 2.4” will see Hayato “Jr” Fujita of Michinoku Pro fame make his first ever appearance for DDT. His partner on the night is HARASHIMA, who is looking for a shot at Kenny Omega and his AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title. However, it could be Fujita who could wriggle his way into title contention if everything goes his way during the match.

DDT is advertising a “Dream Gaijin Trio” coming together in the form of Kenny Omega, El Generico & Sexxxy Eddy. This matches comes just over one week before Omega and Generico find themselves on opposite sides of a big Tag Team match.

For those who have followed DDT for years, you would know that Sanshiro Takagi is a huge WWE fan. He loves to emulate his favourite Superstars and many of his ideas over the years have been inspired by what goes on in the WWE ring every Monday and Friday night. So, can you guess the inspiration for his latest scheme? Judging by the photo above, of course you can.

So far this year, Takagi has commented on DDT recently becoming stagnant and a little bit boring. He blames Tsurumi Amon for letting this happen while being in charge of looking over the shows. So his solution to this problem is to form a dissident group to cause some chaos and annoy Amon into doing a better job. Takagi already brought Takao Soma into the group and recently revealed that Shiro Koshinaka & Masashi Aoyagi would be coming over to help him out. Tsurumi’s response is to find his own disciplined group of wrestlers to stop Takagi.This will lead to an 8-Man Tag Team mach at Korakuen Hall to see who will win the battle between chaos and good behaviour.

It took him just over 6 years to finally get the sweet, sweet taste triumph again. Danshoku Dino now rules the roost in DDT, winning the KO-D Openweight Title tonight for the second time in his career. He defeated his fellow Homorio Clover Z member KUDO with a brand new finisher called the Danshoku Tornado, a Twisting Moonsault. The match begun with a perverse take on the infamous Antonio Inoki Vs Muhammed Ali fight, with KUDO keeping his back to the mat and kicking Dino in the legs while the challenger kept thrusting his hips towards the champion. While KUDO did score hits with a Swan Dive Missile Kick and the Buzzsaw Kick, Dino incapacitated him with the Lip Lock and Gotch-Style Danshoku Driver. KUDO was able to kick out of that but Dino immediately followed with his new finisher to seal the deal.

After the match Dino took the mic and said it was his dream to main event Budokan Hall. He was interrupted by Antonio Honda, who was still able to attend the show despite “falling ill” during the week. Honda told a story about seeing Dino wrestle in a HWWA indie show ten years ago. He also brought up the memory of the MUSCLE sub-brand, a place both Dino and Honda played a big role in creating. Honda then challenged Dino for a title shot. Tsurumi Amon gave the green light and announced the match will take place when DDT returns to Korakuen Hall on 19th February. Dino finished up by saying that being gay is the strength of his power, he will dye the Budokan with his Danshoku style, his libido will become stronger as we get closer to the 15th Anniversary show and that he has the ghost of MUSCLE looking over him.

Meanwhile KUDO said that tonight was a very frustrating loss to take. However, he will not give up fighting for the KO-D Title and he is also looking forward to new challenges. One of them will be the chance to team with Kenny Omega to take on El Generico & HARASHIMA on 19/2.

HARASHIMA prepared himself well for Kenny Omega by avoiding the Croyt’s Wrath finisher. Unfortunately he forgot about Omega’s new finisher, the One-Winged Angel. Kenny won the match and afterwards said there is no time to rest when you are a champion. After he beats Kaz Hayashi in All Japan next week, Omega wants to defend the AJPW Jr. Heavyweight Title against HARASHIMA in DDT. HARASHIMA complimented Omega for gaining experience in so many different wrestling organisations and that he himself felt the pride of a champion when fighting him.

Yuji Hino defeated Keisuke Ishii in a preview of their KO-D Tag Team Title match in Nagoya next month. His pure power was too much for Ishii to take. Afterward Hino just said that 2012 will be an “interesting year”. While Shigehiro Irie checked on him, Ishii said he felt shame for losing to someone from KAIENTAI-DOJO. Irie stood by his friend and said he would never wrestle for K-DOJO.

Despite losing to Crying Wolf in the Rock & Roll Death Match, Makoto Oishi challenged Yasu Urano to put the KO-D Tag Team Title on the line against him and a partner of his choosing on 19/2. Urano accepted and Makoto introduced his partner, Masao Inoue! Makoto nicknamed Inoue the “Silly Little Green Giant” and begun a short interview with him, idol group style. Inoue didn’t have much to say in the interveiw so Makoto kept finishing his sentences for him.

Daisuke Sasaki will be taking an extended break from DDT. He will be travelling over to Mexico and will wrestle there for a while. He has not decided how long the excurison will be.

Sanshiro Takagi said he wanted to add more wrestlers to his “Anti-League Players Association” in the next couple of weeks. It looks like this storyline will slowly brew all the way up to the 15th Anniversary show. Both Takagi & Takao Soma had their bodies covered in the same tattoos CM Punk has.

Antonio Honda has been suddenly struck with a chronic illness and had to be taken off this weekend’s show. Luckily, A.YAZAWA will be coming in to take his place. YAZAWA will bring his experience in Rock & Roll Death Matches to aid Crying Wolf with their match against Homoiro Clover Z.

DDT “INTO THE FIGHT 2012”, 19/02/2012Tokyo Korakuen Hall

1. Special Tag Match: Kenny Omega & X Vs El Generico & X

Kenny Omega and El Generico finally cross paths in Japan but it will be in a Tag Team match.

One year after teaming together, Danshoku Dino returned to New Japan to team up with the pink mohawked Luchador Maximo once again for the New Japan & CMLL co-production of “FANTASTICA MANIA”. Before their match with TAKA Michinoku & Taichi even began, Dino tried to kiss Milano Collection AT at the commentator’s table. Milano avoided Dino by dragging another commentator in his place for the kiss. Even though Dino and Maximo got along fabulously and recieved chants of “Maxi-Dino” from the fans, their efforts could not defeat TAKA & Taichi. Dino & Maximo let bygones be bygones and both kissed the referee at the same time after the match. Dino then chased Taichi into the locker room.

Danshoku Dino last held the KO-D Openweight Title in 2005. It was his only KO-D Title reign and since then he has had around six shots at the belt. KUDO will break the record for most KO-D Title defences if he defeats Dino.

The former champs get their rematch with Crying Wolf. Unsurprisingly, no one has been able to match the strength of Yuji Hino so far. Will Keisuke Ishii have discovered a fatal flaw to exploit after his Korakuen Hall match with Hino?

Keisuke Ishii & Shigehiro Irie will get a KO-D Tag Team Title rematch with Yasu Urano & Yuji Hino on 11th February in Nagoya. The champions after that event will then face a Homoiro Clover Z team at the 19/2 Korakuen Hall show.

I have a big treat in store for everyone today courtesy of the kind folks from the Dr. Keith Presents radio show over at F4WOnline. Dean Knickerbocker and Alan Counihan have created a pro wrestling annual that looks back on the Japanese, American and European scenes throughout 2011. The 99-page annual is filled with analysis of many of the major Japanese promotions and American indy feds, articles on some of the most notable breakthrough names over the last 12 months and also some fun puzzles to enjoy. Plus there are roundtable discussions on the most memorable moments in both America and Japan, the latter featuring yours truly. For those of you who grew up with the Beano, Dandy and Shoot Annuals, this is just the downloadable book for you.